Tire-machine.



F. W. KREME-R.

TIRE MACHINE.` APPLICATION FILED Dc'.12,19|4.

1,230,4 1 5 Patented June 19, 19177.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WM5 /W www MINA YUIM In: A IHG lmlm. D C.

F. W. KREMER.

me MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I2. 1914.

Patented J une 19, 1917.

2 SHETS-SHEET 2.

' nutren sra FRANKLIN W, KREMER, 0F

canns'rnnr, NEW JERSEY'.

TERE-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

f Patented June 19, 191'?.

Applcationled December 12, 1914.-. Serial No. 876,948.

`To allfw'lwm t may concern:

Beit known that I, FRANKLIN 'W. KRE- MER, a citizen of the United States, residing at 32 Central avenue, Carlst'adt, N ew Jersey,

Y have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Tire-Machines, of which the following isa specification.

, This invention relates to the production of 'laminated fabric casings or shoes for vehicle tires, and particularly for pneumatic and cushion tires used upon automobile wheels; one representative form of machine for producing such tires or shoesbeing disclosed in my application, Se. No. 714,289, filed Aug. 9, 1912,- which has matured into Patent No. 1,216,329. granted Feb. 20, 1917.

In machines of the type under discussion, sheets of textile fabric permeated with rubber oncomposition analogous to rubber are stretchedand at the samev time fed on to a rotating mandrel and made to adhere to each other, the sheets as thus placed in position being shaped or formed-that is to some extent molded by pressure or impact-so as to render the tire or shoe of In my present invention. I employ a machine for feeding and stretching ,the fabric permeated with rubber and commonly designated Aas rubberized fabric, the material being fed in strips or sheets by a feeding mechanism and on to a rotating mandrel; but between the feeding mechanism and the 'mandrel l insert gearing for connecting the feeding mechanism and the mandrel in positive relation, so as to provide for uniformly stretching, the fabric. n doing this the strip of material .is stretched, in the general direction of its length, and with mathematical accuracy. "While ,the elongation of the median portion of the material is greater than the elongation of the edge portions thereof. the elongation'of the median portion and the edge portions is always in an exact and det-erminable ratio to the length of the material-before. the material is stretched. It is to accomplish this result that l employ theposi-V tive drive gearing interposedbetweenthe rotating mandrel and the feeding mechanism, and s o arrangedthat'a given degree of peripheral travel of the mandrel 1s 1nseparably associated with a similar yet eX- actdegree of longitudinal travel of the nnstretched portion of the material..

In this manner the stretching of the fabric is done uniformly and with absolute precision. As a consequence the built-up shoe or tire 1s rendered much stronger than would otherwise be possible, owing to\the even distribution of the strains to which the fabric is subjected.

My mechanism further contemplates mechanism for enabling the operator to vary. the tension placed upon the textile material, and in so doing to vary the proportionate length to which the fabric is stretched; and

that, too,- independentlyV of the use of change-speed mechanism or other means for varying the general speed of the machine. iVhether, therefore, the machine as a whole be run at vhigh or low speed, the stretching of the material is always uniform, Abecause of the above mentioned predetermined ratio of the peripheral speed of the mandrel to the length of the'material before stretching, though this ratio may be varied within certain limits at the will of the operator.

,Reference is made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which like letters indicate like parts throughout the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine, certain parts being broken away;

Fig. 2 'is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a diagram of the feedv mechanism and mandrel, showing how the material is handled; t

F ig. 4 is a perspective of certain portions of the gearing;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front elevation of the' machine, showing the clutch mechanism and certain parts of the driving gear.

Mounted upona ba'se 1 is a frame-work 5, the latter being. provided with bearings 6. A shaft 7 is supported .by these bearings and carries a pair of spiders 8 having` arms 9-10, the arms 9L being provided with lugs 11. A foot lever 12n serving generally the purpose of a latch is provided with a notch for'engaging any one of the lugs 11, the foot lever being mounted upon a pivot pin 14. The operator by depressing the foot lever may disengage the notch 13 from the ad- `iacent'lug 11 so that the spiders 10 and shaft 7 may be rotated by hand. Carried by they arms 9 are small reels 15` suitable Afor receiving and holding the liner or strip of material used in connection with the rubberized fabric for'preventingldifferent convolutions of the latter from sticking together, while the fabric remains in coiled lform. Reels 16, somewhat larger than the reels .15

are journaled upon the arms 10,. and are used for supporting coils of the rubberized fabric the convolutions of which are interspersed by convolutions of the liner in order to maintain them separate. 17 (see Fig. 3) is the winding of rubberized fabric and liner just mentioned. 'The rub berized abrieis shown at 18, the strip of lliner material appearing at 19. As the rubberized fabric is gradually unwound, (asv indicated in Fig. 3), the liner `19 is wound into the form of the coil 20, and thus stored by the reel 15. As the rubberized material 13 passes through the feed mechanism and is stretched it appears as indicated at 18 in Fig. 3; and as the material is brought into engagement ywith the mandrel, and otherwise litted in. position as a part of thefshoe or tire, it appears as shown at 18" in Fig. 3.

vMounted upon the 4trame-work 5 are two hangers 21 located parallel with each other. Rollers 22-23 extend between these hangers, and are parallel with each Aotherthe roller 22 ybeing directly over the roller 23 and being located upon a shaft 24. This shaft is mounted in bearings 25, which are adjustable by aid of screws 26, the latter being controllable by' hand wheels 27. By turning these hand wheels, the pressure ofA the roller 22 against the roller 23 is regulated at will. rlhe roller 23 is mounted upon ashaft` 28. Gear wheels, 29 mounted rigidly upon the shaft 28 mesh with gear wheels 30 carried rigidly by the shaft 24 so that the rollers 22 and 23 are thus geared positively together and turn at the same rate of peripheral speed. Connected with the brackets 21 and extending downwardly therefrom are two arms 31 each provided witha slot 32 having a general arcuate form. Extending through the two slots 32 is a shaft 33 which carries a pair of gear wheels 3l. These gear wheels, however, may be iienioved and replaced by`other gear wheels of greater or smaller diameter, as desired. The sprocket wheel '35 is mounted rigidly upon one end ofthe shaft 33, and is engaged by a sprocket chain 36 which also engages a gear wheel 37,

the latter being mounted upon a revoluble shaft 38. Alai-ge gear wheel 39 is mounted rigidly upon this shaft and meshing with this gear wheel 39 isa gear pinion 40 located directly below it, and secured rigidly upon another revoluble shaft 44. Mounted upon this shaft isa sleeve 42, the same be# ing keyed rigidly in position, and formed into a clutch member as may be understood from Figs. 2 and 5. Another sleeve 43 encircles this shaft and it is formed into ,a

clutch member. The shaft 44 carries a Worm wheel 47 whereby itis driven. 'En-- gaging the Worm wheel 47 is a worm 47a carried by a worm shaft 48. This shaft is driven by gearing 49, the latter being connected with a motor-50 or equivalent prime The windingv mover and actuated thereby. The mandrel appears at 51 and is mounted rigidly upon the shaft 38 whereby it is turned. A table 52 and tool-supporting-post 53 are employed in connection with the machine to facilitate work upon-the fabric as laid or stretched upon the mandrel. The table and tool post, having no immediate or necessary relation to my invention, l will not further describe. A double clutch member -LG is attached for engagement with either of the clutch members 42 or 43, and is operated by a hand lever 45. The' clutch member 46 has three normal positions; that is it may be brought into engagement with the clutch member 43 or with the clutch member 42, or located equidistant between these clutch members. The result of these three normal positions of the clutch member 46 and of three corresponding positions of the handlever 45 is to confer upon the machine two 'distinct speeds, and to give it a so-called idle position.

The operation of my device is as follows The wheels 1G, carrying the rolls of rubberized fabric and liner are mounted upon the arms 10, and the empty reels 15 are mounted upon the arms 9 as indicated more particularly in Fig. 1. .The spiders 8 are turned one step at a time by hand, so as to brin each successive reel 16 into a predetermined position, which itoccupies until thecontents of the reel in question are exhausted. The rubberized fabric 18 is led upwardly and through one of the reels 15, as indicated in Fig. l, and thence pass under the roller 23, thence upwardly and between the rollers 23 and 22, and linally' over the roller and into engagement with the mandrel, or material carried thereby. The liner 19 as gradually unrolled from 'the reel 1.6, is wound upon the reel 15, as indicated in Fig. 3. The pressure between the rollers 22 and 23 having been a-d-imsted by aid of the hand wheels 27, as abredescribed, and

arranged as stated, the machine is started into action, at a speed controllable by the hand lever 45. The sprocket Wheel 37 drives the sprocket chain 36 which occupies the sprocket wheel 35 and causes the shaft 33 to rotate. While the speed of the sprocket wheel 35 has a ratio relatively to 'the speed of the sprocket Wheel 37, the speed of the rollers 22 and 23, and consequently the traveling speed of the rubberized material, is dependent upon the diameters of the gear Wheels carried by the shaft 33, which are removable and replaceable as above described. Therefore, the relative speed of travel of the rubberized material, before it leaves the rollers 22 and 23, may be varied to some extent, at the will of the operator, relatively to the peripheral speed of the the edges of the rubberized material are not stretched as much as the median portion of p the material, and this fact enables the material to assume suitable form for the shoe.

` As the gearing interposed between the mandrel and the feed rollers 22 and 23 is positively connected up, and as the rollers 9.2 and 23 are positively driven by said gearing, including the sprocket wheel 85 and chain 36, it follows of necessity, that the degree of stretching to which the rubberized fabric is subjected is always the same, eX- cept where purposely varied at the will and pleasure of the perator. This' is a fact of great importanceffIf the rubberized material be so' disposed that at one time the material is stretched more than at another, so that the composite mass thus built up of the rubberized material is notproperly ten sioned internally, the shoe is apt to warp and` twist or otherwise become distorted, and different portions of the fabric are subjected to undesirable and unnecessary strain. Plainly the best distribution of internal strains possible is effected by feeding the material uniformly and by stretching it in a predetermined ratio which is conltant, other things being equal.

While in this instance the chief elements of the feed mechanism are rollers,k I do not limit myself on this account as the material may be fed otherwise than by rollers: Neither do I limit myself to the precise form of gearing shown as variations may be made'in the construction without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Haring thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire toA secure by Letters Patent is as follows l. A device of the character described comprising a rotating mandrel, impair-efY rollers for engaging a/ rnbberiedfabric and feeding the same on'to said mandrel, means for adjusting one of said rollers relatively to the other, gearing members connecting said rollers together so as to render positive theirr movements relatively to each other, and mechanism connected with Said mandrel and driven thereby, said mechanism also being connected to said gear members for driving said rollers, the proportions of the parts being such that said fabric, after.

leaving said rollers and before contacting with said mandrel, is stretched. I 2. A tire machine comprising a rotating mandrel, a sprocket wheel connected to rotate therewith, a supplemental shaft having a sprocket wheel thereon, a sprocket chain connecting said sprocket wheel, a removable gear wheel on said supplemental shafts, and a pair of fabric clamping rollers geared up with said gear wheel and with each other. 3. A tire building machine embodying a power driven ring core, a stock roll for carrying sheeted tire material, feed rolls geared together for delivering the material from the stock roll in a circuitous path to the ring core, a driveshaft geared to the feed rolls for rotating the feed rolls, means for driving the ring core, and means for positively driving said drivelshaft from said core driving means. y n testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 25th day of .August 1914-. i

FRANKLIN w.`V imm/1ER- Witnesses:

I-I. BIRNBACH, WM. F. NICKEL. 

